Tunings / string arrangement

The 18th century English cittern went by various names, most usually guittar (two t's), and less often guitar (one t), cetra, or citra. It is referred to today as the "English guittar," in reference to its use and popularity throughout the British Isles, though that term was only used in only a few sources from the time.

The usual size of the instrument had a vibrating string length of 41-44cm and a C-major open-string tuning of (low to high) c-e-g-c'-e'-g', though both larger and smaller sizes of instrument are known [Note 1], and tunings in G-major and A-major (a 4th and a major 3rd below, respectively) are documented in surviving music sources. [Note 2]

In addition to the usual C-major tuning, at least one French source (Carpentier, c.1770) and at least one English source (Ritter, c.1770), suggest an alternative tuning of c-d-g-c'-e'-g' by dropping the 5th course a full tone — which, according to Ritter, allows the guittar to "be Played in an easier & more complete manner."

The most common disposition of the strings was to have ten strings in six courses, with the top four courses paired and the lowest two courses single — though again, variations are known to exist, as can be seen in the chart below.

String material

Written sources are nearly universal in calling for "white" or "steel" strings for the top two courses and "yellow wire" or "brass wire" for the third course. [Note 3]  The lowest two single courses were "silvered" or "covered" (silvered-copper close-wound on a wire core) [Note 4].  This leaves the fourth course, which was either strung in yellow brass like the third course or strung with close-wound strings like the lowest courses. 

Of the few sources that do describe the stringing of the guittar, most call for the use of wound strings on the fourth course, though a later source calls for plain brass wire. [Note 5]  The choice of strings for the fourth course may have depended both on the scale length of the strings and the pitch standard to which the player was tuning, as both the sound quality and tuning stability of plain strings suffer when tuned to too low a pitch. [Note 6]  

I am currently aware of only two sources that specify the gauges for the upper courses. Leite (1795) stipulates

• Course 1: "As Primas (2), devem ser de Carrinho no. 8.o, e nao no. 7.o,  como muitos querem, sem attenderem a proporcao da Corda." ["The First Strings should be of No. 8 string, and not No. 7, as many want, without considering the proportion of the String."]

• Course 2: "As Segunas, devem ser de Carrinho no. 6.o." ["The Second Strings should be of No. 6 string."]

• Course 3: "As Terceiras, devem ser de Carrinho no. 4.o." ["The Third Strings should be of No. 4 string."]

These gauges are very similar to those called for by Carpentier for the larger French cistre. (See my page on Cistre / Guittare Allemande strings.)

By contrast, Nicholson (1819) only provides gauges for the top two courses. He notes "the upper open note, G, is of double steel wires, about No. 4; the second, E, is also double, No. 5." [Note 7]

Notes

1. Poulopoulos 2011 (pp. 293, 554) notes that the guittar has string scale lengths in the extreme range of 32 cm to 53 cm, with most instruments falling into the 41-44 cm range.

2. In addition to the typical C major tuning, a tuning chart for G major can be found in James Oswald's A Compleat Tutor for the Guittar (c. 1760). The A major tuning is found only in the 1757 and 1762 publications of Marella -- though the 1762 edition also survives in a version with the music transposed to the C major tuning but with an identical title page and dedication. 

3. The switch from brass to steel on the guittar's second course happens at around the same pitch as on the similarly sized renaissance cittern, whose top course (e') was also strung in iron or "steel." From this we can conclude that the pitch of the e' course for both instruments was too high to be strung in brass without breaking, which suggests a range of effective pitch standards for both instruments. (Contrarily, if the pitch standard was significantly lower than A415, the e' course could be effectively string in brass without breaking.)

4. Descriptions of stringing are surprisingly sparse in comparison with the number of surviving publications for the instrument.  The full list of descriptions I have found so far is limited to Longman, Lukey, and Broderip c. 1775, Longman and Broderip c. 1780, Light 1785, Preston c. 1789, Leite 1795, and Nicholson 1819.  The early sources refer to the lowest strings as "silvered," while Leite and Nicholson refer to them as "covered" ("Bordones cobertos" in the former). The entry in Nicholson's encyclopedia provides the most detail: "The two last [two strings] are single wires, covered with very fine wire as closely as possible, like the fourth strings of violins."

5. The diagram in Longman, Lukey & Broderip's A Pocket book for the Guitar (c.1775) shows a doubled 4th course and labels it the "1st. silv[ere]d str[in]g" (with the 5th and 6th courses labeled "D[itt]o."). Preston's Complete Instructions (c.1789) describe the 6th course as having "the largest Silvered String" and the 5th course having "the second Silvered String," while the 4th course has "two Silvered Strings." Leite's Estudo de guitarra (1795) describes the 4th course strings as "Bordones cobertos"  (covered bourdons). It is not until the 1819 entry for "Guitar" in the Third American Edition of W. Nicholson’s British Encyclopedia that one finds the 4th course specified as "double, of brass."

6. In my experience, the intonation and tuning stability of a plain brass string begins to be compromised when it attains a diameter of around 0.018"/0.45mm when played at 3-3.5 kg of tension. Incidentally, 0.018" ED is the smallest gauge of a clos-wound string I have so far found possible to make.

7. While Leite and Carpentier are using the Continental (Nuremberg) system of wire gauges, Nicholson appears to be using the historical English system, hence the difference in gauges. 

Sources

• Carpentier, Joseph. I.er recueil de menuets, allemandes &c. entremelés d'airs agreables à chanter. (Paris: c.1770) 

• Leite, António da Silva. Estudo de guitarra, em que se expoem o meco mais facil para aprender a tocar este instrumento. (Oporto: 1795) 

• Light, Edward. Art of Playing the Guittar. (London: 1785)

• Longman, and Broderip. Complete Instruction for the Guittar. (London: c. 1780)

• Longman, Lukey & Broderip. A Pocket book for the Guitar. (London: c.1775)

• Marella, Giovanni Battista. Sixty six lessons for the cetra or guittar, in every key, both flat & sharp . . . Op. III. (London: 1757)

• Nicholson, William. "Musical Instruments." American Edition of the British Encyclopedia, or Dictionary of Arts and Sciences, Vol. VI (Philadelphia: 1819).

• Oswald, James. A Compleat Tutor for the Guittar, with Two Scales shewing the Method of Playing in the keys of C and G: to which is added Eighteen Favourite Songs Adapted for that Instrument (Books 1st). (London: c. 1760)

• Poulopoulos, Panagiotis. The Guittar in the British Isles, 1750-1810. University of Edinburgh, 2011.

• Preston, John. Complete instruction for the guitar, containing the most useful directions & examples... (London: c. 1789)

• Ritter, D. Lessons for the Guittar.  (London: c.1770)